This invention relates generally to the application of a pocket to footwear, and more specifically pertains to the fashioning of a wraparound style of pocket along the upper quarter portions of a shoe to facilitate the retention of personal items such as keys, coins, or the like.
The prior art has considered the application of pockets to shoes, but particularly such pockets have generally been constructed into the vamp portion of the shoe, wherein items may be stored, such as shown in the Barlow, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 3 143,392. In this particular embodiment, the pocket is structured into the upper vamp portion of the shoe, permanently secured thereto, and has a single closure means in the nature of a zipper for opening the upper edge of the vamp wherein items may be stored. A similar type of combined shoe and purse is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,570, to Bliese, and which is not too unlike that which has previously been described in the aforementioned Barlow patent. Various other styles of the application of pockets to a shoe or boot are shown in the Wirsching U.S. Pat. No. 1,289,341, in addition to the U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,613, to Brettell. While the pockets described therein may be useful for storing articles, the particular structure under which the pockets are fabricated, their integration into the shoe structure, and their method of usage, is quite distinct from the concept of the current invention, which is not only to provide a pocket part wherein the opening slot may be exposed upon the frontal portion of the pocket, or perhaps even in the rear liner thereof, as for concealment purposes, but in addition, the pocket itself is fashioned from a pair of liners that wraparound the upper arch of anke of the installed footwear, such as in athletic shoes, to further add some structural support for the shoe and protection for the underlying components of the foot during footwear usage.
But, consideration has been given in the prior art to providing structural support for the ankle, such as shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,410, to Park Sr. et al., wherein an integrated strap may wrap upwardly around the ankle to add bracing in the form of an ankle support during usage of the shown athletic shoe. The hockey boot to Westfall, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,545,623, discloses the use of strap means for enhancing ankle support for the wearer of the shoe during participation in that athletic event. Similar type construction is shown in the skating and hockey boot as invented by Johnson, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,139,530. But, the current invention, as distinct from what is shown and described in the variety of prior art patents, integrates not only anklet and upper arch support in the application of the shoe of the foot of the wearer, but in addition, does add that additional feature of providing a pocket part therein for securement and retainment of personal items, even during participation in an active sporting event such as basketball, football, jogging, or the like.
It is, therefore, the principle object of this invention to provide a wraparound pocket part that may be used for securement of personal items, and at the same time snugly embrace the frontal portion of the ankle underlying the athletic shoe in which this invention is embodied.
Another object of this invention is to provide means for concealment of personal items within a pocket wherein the pocket slot may be substantially concealed within a block liner for the wrap around style of pocket design as integrated into the shoe structure.
Still another object of this invention is to provide means for substantially bracing the upper metatarsus, arch, and ankle portion of the foot upon which the footwear of this invention is applied.
Yet another object of this invention is to embody the principles of this design into casual footwear.
These and other objects may become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the summary of this invention, and upon undertaking a study of the description of the preferred embodiment, in view of the drawings.